Crystal Gardens / Amanda Quick/ Audio Book 9 discs/ Romance

Crystal Gardens by Amanda Quick is not your typical historical romance as the main characters are plagued with paranormal gifts that prevent them from leading a normal societal life.

Our protagonist is Evangeline Ames, a female author and private investigator who has left London for the calm life of a country village after an attempt on her life. Her employers have forced her to take time out to recover her wits, enabling her to work on her novel.  However, trouble seems to follow wherever she goes, and when we first meet her she is fleeing out of her window from a man who wishes to murder her. This second attempt on her life sees her escaping from her cottage onto the grounds of Crystal Gardens, the country house owned by the mysterious Lucas Sebastian.  Whilst our heroine is investigating who could be behind the attempts on her life, Lucas is trying to discover who murdered his uncle, the previous owner of Crystal Gardens.  It becomes clear that their investigations could be linked, making Lucas and Evangeline work together to decipher the truth.

Crystal Gardens is for readers who enjoy their historical romance with strong paranormal elements. This was my first experience with the paranormal-romance genre and I found I enjoyed listening to this book on audio. The narrator had a very dramatic way of reading it, though sometimes her voice sounded a little odd (especially when she narrated the male characters).  Her British accent was authentic and each character sounded distinctive.  Quick's books seem to lend themselves well to audio books. Her style is very focused on the mystery components, but the romance seemed to take a bit of a back seat at times.  That is not to say that the romance wasn't good. It was. I just expected more. I do feel that she emphasized the paranormal elements a bit too much, using the term 'psychical' excessively. Readers get the point about the paranormal energies and she could have added depth by building up the story in other ways. Descriptively, Quick excelled in her portrayal of the Crystal Gardens and its otherworldly atmosphere, truly transporting the reader there.

This title is the first in the Ladies of Lantern Street Series.

Similar Titles:  Touch of a Thief  by Mia Marlowe, Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster, Firelight by Kristen Callihan

Any Duchess Will Do / Tessa Dare / 375 pages / Romance

Tessa Dare has crafted one of the most pleasurable books I've read. If you’re looking for a fun, sexy Historical Romance, then you’ll not want to miss this! I thought it perfect escapism.
Oozing humor, it’s filled with witty dialogue and the banter is ever flowing. It also has very sensual love scenes and offers a story that flows faultlessly from beginning to end. There’s no wading in; from the get-go it grabs you and will have you laughing out loud and anxious for more. This talented author touches on one of the most devastating losses anyone could experience, and yet the tone and mood is perfectly balanced carrying the reader forward. I loved it all!

The story begins:  Thirty four year old Griffin Eliot York, eighth Duke of Halford, better known as Griff to his friends and family, is determined to stop his interfering mother’s plans to see him wed. In her latest scheme of kidnapping and spiriting him away to Spindle Cove, he finds the perfect solution. When told to choose any of the ladies with a promise issued that she’ll have them shaped into “Duchess” material within a few weeks, He turns the table. Instead of a proper lady visiting this quaint sea side town, he chooses instead a local; twenty-two year old Pauline Simms. She’s the daughter of a farmer, serves as barmaid at the tavern and her first impression left much to be desired. It doesn’t take long before Griff and his mother learn there’s much more to Pauline Simms than her untidy first impression. This is a very lovable heroine. It’s rare to find a hero and heroine that add equally to the enjoyment of a romance. When that happens, it’s like finding gold. She’s smart, gutsy, feisty, determined and has a dream for better. Life hasn't been easy for Pauline and with the secret deal Griff offers, she finally can envision a future of brightness for not only herself, but her special and much loved younger sister.


Part of the Spinster Cove Series:  1-A Night To Surrender   2-A Week To Be Wicked  3-A Lady By Midnight   4 - Any Duchess Will Do

Similar titles:  The Bridgerton Series by Julia Quinn,  The Cynster Novels by Stephanie Laurens,  The Survivors' Club Septet by Mary Balogh

A Strong West Wind / Gail Caldwell / 226 pages / Biography - Autobiography

A Strong West Wind is a memoir of culture and history - of fathers and daughters, of two world wars and the passionate rebellions of the sixties.  It is a memoir written for each of us who longed to move away from our hometowns, knowing that something better just had to be around the corner.  Caldwell, who grew up in the Texas panhandle, artfully uses the metaphor of the wind to steer us through the passages of her life.   Hooked by her first line "How do we become who we are?",  hers is a story of growing up with more questions than answers, that you could be sad and half crazy and still have a life that meant something, that sometimes these definitions are concealed or shrouded in a brighter truth--what looked like an off-road ditch might be another, better path.

Caldwell artfully weaves disparate themes of literature, war, growing up in the 1960's, and her special relationship with her father into a colorful tapestry. As an avid reader, I particularly enjoyed how she cited lines and characters from favorite books to correspond with scenes in her life. Caldwell is at ease discussing a broad spectrum of authors from classics like Shakespeare and Tolstoy to more modern writers, Faulkner and McCarthy. It is clear how important reading is to her life from her first visits to her hometown library "a generous old Georgian mansion with two sets of stone steps up to its wide verandas." Caldwell aptly describes herself as a child "bored beyond measure without a book in my hand."

From girlhood to middle-age, the wind carries us through these spaces in Caldwell's life--a life like so many of our own.

Similar Read-alike suggestions:  The Longest Trip Home by John Grogan,  All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg, The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer

Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) / Jenny Lawson - The Bloggress / 315 pages / Biography-Autobiography

Her readers obviously don't care whether her book is fact or fiction.  The memoir debuted at the top of the Washington Post and new York Times nonfiction bestseller lists, and in her introduction, Lawson writes, "This book is totally true, except for the parts that aren't".  Lawson relishes revealing plenty about her life, except just how much she may exaggerate about it.  She is hugely popular online where she's detailed her life on the Web for years.

 

The book skims through a series of comic essays, akin to Sedaris if he were an anxiety-stricken Texas mother with a fascination for taxidermy and the zombie apocalypse.  Her writing may be an acquired taste for some, especially with the high animal body count, the constant cursing and the occasionally disjointed manner.  But for her many fans, the randomness will only add to the charm.  The tale is meandering, though never boring and she finds her footing in the world of blogging, where quirkiness is queen.

Similar suggested titles:  Any books written by David Sedaris;  Sippy cups are not for Chardonnay by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor;  My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me by Hilary Winston, or Chelsea  Chelsea Bang-Bang by Chelsea Handler . 

I Am Malala - The Girl Who Stood Up For Education And Was Shot By The Taliban / Malala Yousafzai / 321 pages / Biography-Autobiography

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.  On Tuesday October 9, 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price. When she was shot in the head at point blank range while riding the bus home from school, few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in Northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I AM MALALA is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, and of Malala's parents' fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

It will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world. 

Similar Suggested Read-alikes:  Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof,  Blasphemy by Asia Bibi, First Darling of the Morning by Thrity N. Umrigar.